Sunday February 12th, 2012 First Nations Public Library Week

February 13 – 18 is First Nations Public Library Week, so come in and celebrate with books, movies, and more.

On the evenings of February 13th and 15th you can make a leather pouch at Waverley and Brodie libraries – check our website for times and registration information. February 16th we’ll be screening Third World Canada at our Mary J.L. Black Library and on February 18th join us for a special storytelling program with Joe McLellan. Free tickets to the Joe McLellan reading are available at the Waverley Children’s Desk.

If you’d rather curl up with a good book, we have plenty of choices on a variety of topics. All of the books below are written by Aboriginal writers and can be found at your library.

For those interested in history we have History of the Ojibway People by William W. Warren and Matawa First Nations Community and Life Experiences by John Paul Jacasum, among other titles.

On the arts and culture side, we have books such as Norval Morrisseau: Return to the House of Invention by Norval Morrisseau, Northern Ojibway Style Birch Bark Canoe Building by Pelican Falls First Nations High School, Return to the Drum: Teaching Among the Dene in Canada’s North by Miggs Wynne Morris, and Th!nk Indian: Languages are Beyond Price by Basil Johnston. It’s a truly amazing variety of topics and there is much more to explore.

Personally, I love a good story and winter is the perfect time for storytelling. In fiction you will find Through Black Spruce by Joseph Boyden, War Dances by Sherman Alexie, Motorcycles and Sweetgrass by Drew Hayden Taylor, As Long as the Rivers Flow by James Bartleman, and Finding Carrie George by Frank LaRue.

If you are inspired to have a movie night we have a number of choices on DVD. You can borrow Our Spirits Don’t Speak English: Indian Boarding School, The Sacred Sundance: Transfer of a Ceremony, Woodland Spirits, and Keepers of the Fire among others.

Of course we don’t just have books and movies for adults. In our children’s section you will find books by Ruby Slipperjack, Joseph Bruchac, Leo Yerxa, Larry Loyie, Jan Bourdeau Waboose, and of course Joe McLellan. These authors only scratch the surface of what is available in our Children’s department and there are tales from all over North America. In Children’s you will also find the Wapos Bay television series in both English and Cree.

Additionally, consider reading Fatty Legs by Christy Jordan-Fenton which is the current First Nation Communities Read book. This reading program exists to encourage family literacy and intergenerational storytelling. It also helps to highlight the many excellent First Nation, Inuit, and Metis writers and illustrators in the publishing community. They alternate between Children’s and Young Adult/Adult titles. Past titles include: Long Powwow Nights by David Bouchard & Pam Aleekuk, Which Way Should I Go by Sylvia Olsen with Ron Martin, Ancient Thunder by Leo Yerxa, As Long as the Rivers Flow by Larry Loyie with Constance Brissenden, Skysisters by Jan Bourdeau Waboose, Solomon’s Tree inspired by Tsimpshian master carver Victor Reece, written by Andrea Spalding, and Dragonfly Kites by Tomson Highway.

I know that there are a lot of titles and authors listed above, my hope is that this will introduce you to the rich stores of Aboriginal writing we have available to us. Join us in celebrating First Nations writing and culture this week and all year!

Ruth Hamlin-Douglas